''Let the Peoples Sing'' (known until 1964 as ''Let the People Sing'') is an international
choral competition currently organised by the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The final, encompassing three categories and around ten choirs, is offered as a live broadcast to all EBU members. The Silver Rose Bowl is awarded to the best choir in the competition.
History
The competition was first organised by
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
in 1957, originally as a national contest for amateur British choirs under the title ''
Let the People Sing'', and ran until 1982 as a weekly series each year. The final round of the first competition was broadcast in the
Light Programme on 23 April 1957 and was followed four days later by a special concert relayed from the
Royal Albert Hall. In the two subsequent years (1958–59) the final concert was held at the
Royal Festival Hall. The contest also led to new choral works being commissioned.
In 1965 the annual competition became an international one, with participation extended to include choirs from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. It was further extended in the 1970s with entrants also coming from other countries with radio networks belonging to the EBU, each of the networks organising the national qualifying rounds leading to the international finals. Broadcasters submitted tapes of the choirs which they entered, and these were then listened to and evaluated by the professional jury who decided the winners in each category. There was no broadcast of the entire competition at this time. In 1993, the
Euroradio-networked choral competition moved to a biennial schedule, held in the autumn of odd-numbered years. In 1995, at the initiative of
Danish Radio
DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...
, it was decided that while recordings would continue to be used for the preliminary rounds, however the finals should be hosted as a live radio event. These were broadcast via the Union's Euroradio satellite network, with the choirs performing in their home cities to listeners across Europe and to the jury. Since 2001, the finalists have been invited to perform at a concert by the host broadcaster. The competition has become more or less a festival with many more concerts and a supporting workshop program.
After the 1982 competition, the BBC ceased broadcasting the national selection and international heats, and for a number of years aired only the final round. The BBC had hosted the international finals since its inception. In 1983, Germany's national public radio broadcaster
Deutschlandradio hosted the final round, they were later joined as host by Finnish broadcaster
Yle
Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...
from 1987; both took over the organisation of the competition held on an alternating basis in Cologne and Helsinki respectively. The 1991 competition finals was the last to be held in Finland until 2017.
In 1984,
BBC Two broadcast a new national competition in association with
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
supermarket; ''Choir of the Year'' ran every two years until 2002, however after Sainsbury's sponsorship ended that year, it was taken over by
BBC Radio 3 (supported by
Arts Council England and
Sing Up) in 2005 where it continued until 2016.
BBC Four aired highlights of the final. The winning choir often proceeded to represent the UK at the international Let the Peoples Sing competition.
Since the late 1990s, Radio 3's broadcast of ''Let the Peoples Sing'' has moved away from the main evening concert (except when hosting in 2011), towards coverage in specific choral programmes such as ''Performance on 3'' (1999, 2003), ''Choirworks'' (2001–2003), ''Choir and Organ'' (2007–2011), ''The Choir'' (2009, 2013–2015) and since 2017, ''
Through the Night''. BBC Radio 3 hosted the 2001 and 2003 competitions live from the
Queen Elizabeth Hall, in London and the 2011 edition was staged at the new
MediaCityUK studios in
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
.
In 2019, the competition took place in Spain for the first time and was hosted by
Catalunya Ràdio
''Catalunya Ràdio'' () is Catalonia's public radio network. With headquarters in Barcelona, it is part of the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (CCMA), owned by the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Catalunya Ràdio broadcasts exclusive ...
, at the 2,049-seat
Palau de la Música Catalana
Palau de la Música Catalana (, en, Palace of Catalan Music) is a concert hall in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed in the Catalan '' modernista'' style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for ...
in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
on 13 October. The previous competition, hosted by Finnish broadcaster
Yle
Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...
, took place at the
Helsinki Music Centre on 15 October 2017. German radio station
BR-Klassik hosted the 2015 edition in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
at the Funkhaus studios.
Luxembourg’s Philharmonic Hall was the host venue in 2013.
In November 2021, the 60th anniversary was celebrated with the
BBC Singers
The BBC Singers are a British chamber choir, and the professional chamber choir of the BBC.
One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British ...
performing a dedicated concert at
St Peter's Church, Eaton Square, in London that was later broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and many other EBU radio stations.
Categories
The competition has three categories, with a winner selected in each category in addition to the overall winner of the Silver Rose Bowl.
* Children and Youth (no members over age 25)
* Adult (any age)
* Open, for choruses who perform music of particular cultural traditions or styles (e.g. folksong, gospel, barbershop, jazz, traditional music, etc.)
List of winners
By competition
In 1973, 1979, 1980, 1987, and 1990 the Silver Rose Bowl was awarded ''
ex aequo
''Ex aequo et bono'' (Latin for "according to the right and good" or "from equity and conscience") is a Latin phrase that is used as a legal term of art. In the context of arbitration, it refers to the power of arbitrators to dispense with conside ...
''.
In 2015 the Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC) became the first American choir to place first in the competition's history of 54 years. After Sunday's competition performances among YPC, the Aarhus Girls' Choir from Denmark and the Romanian Radio Children's Choir, the judges named the Danish choir the winner. However, on Monday morning, the judges rethought their initial decision and determined that the American chorus should tie with the Danish choir for first place in the Children's and Youth category. However, the Aarhus Girls' Choir ultimately prevailed in the finals of the competition.
By country
The table below shows the years that a country won the Silver Rose Bowl.
Years in italics indicate joint wins (''
ex aequo
''Ex aequo et bono'' (Latin for "according to the right and good" or "from equity and conscience") is a Latin phrase that is used as a legal term of art. In the context of arbitration, it refers to the power of arbitrators to dispense with conside ...
'')
See also
*
ABU Song Festivals
*
Bala Turkvision Song Contest
*
Bundesvision Song Contest
The Bundesvision Song Contest (often shortened BSC or BuViSoCo) was a song competition held annually between the sixteen states of Germany. Created by German entertainer Stefan Raab and aired live on ProSieben, the show was loosely based on t ...
*
Cân i Gymru
*
Caribbean Song Festival
The Caribbean Song Festival was an annual song competition held among countries that are members of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU). It was the largest and highest rated song competition of the Caribbean.
It is often referred to as the Eur ...
*
Eurovision Choir of the Year
Eurovision Choir (formerly Eurovision Choir of the Year) is choral competition organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the and modeled after the latter's World Choir Games. Participation is open to member broadcasters of the ...
*
Eurovision Dance Contest
The Eurovision Dance Contest was an international ballroom dancing competition that was held for the first time in the United Kingdom on Saturday 1 September 2007.
The contest was similar in format to the long-running Eurovision Song Contest a ...
*
Eurovision Magic Circus Show
The ''Magic Circus Show'' was an entertainment show organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), which took place in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Children aged between seven and fourteen represen ...
*
Eurovision Song Contest
*
Eurovision Young Dancers
The Eurovision Young Dancers (), often shortened to EYD, or Young Dancers, was a biennial dance competition, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and is broadcast on television throughout Europe. Thirty-seven countries have taken pa ...
*
Eurovision Young Musicians
The Eurovision Young Musicians (), often shortened to EYM, or Young Musicians, is a biennial classical music competition for European musicians that are aged between 12 and 21. It is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and broadcast ...
*
Intervision Song Contest
*
Junior Eurovision Song Contest
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...
*
OGAE
The (OGAE) () is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and beyond. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikkalainen.
Four non-p ...
*
OGAE Second Chance Contest
The OGAE Second Chance Contest is a visual event which was founded in 1987 and is organised by branches of OGAE, the international fan club of the Eurovision Song Contest. Four nations competed in the first contest which took place in 1987. Th ...
*
OGAE Video Contest
*
Sopot International Song Festival
The Sopot International Song Festival or Sopot Festival (later called ''Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix'', ''Sopot Top of the Top Festival'' from 2012–13 and ''Polsat Sopot Festival'' in 2014) is an annual international song contest held in S ...
*
Turkvision Song Contest
References
External links
*
{{European Broadcasting Union
Choral festivals
Singing competitions
Eurovision events
Recurring events established in 1961
Biennial events
Youth music competitions
Awards established in 1961
Early career awards
BBC Radio 3 programmes
Music radio programs